The Weekend Lens

I'm getting back into the swing of things around here after being gone for a couple of weeks and it feels so, so good.

Home.

Yes, love it.

Even my garage.

I bought a cord of wood for our fireplace last week so I spent a big part of Saturday morning moving things around in the garage to make room for the delivery. I love having a fire in my fireplace and with family coming this week it was time to get that delivered.

That's what a cord of wood looks like in the back of a big truck.

And this is what it looks like when the truck dumps it in the driveway.

Simon helped me for a bit and then I proceeded to stack that wood piece by piece in the garage. I felt gloriously independent and strong as I stacked that wood and reflected a bit (because that's just how I operate) on this crazy life. I felt thankful for my house and my job and my family and my health and all the good things I have right in front of me.

Here's what it looked like when I was all finished:

My back might be a little sore but man it felt good to get it all put away. Okay, it was more than a little sore but it tells me I was doing something!

Meanwhile Anna was loving playing inside. I heard lots of mother/baby chatter and school chatter as she conducted her own lessons with stuffed animals and dolls.

I took a break from stacking to work on a Kiwi Crate we had leftover from a few months back.

This one was all about birds and included this cool feather mask with three different beaks and awesome blue wings:

These crates make a great gift if you are looking for something for a crafty kid in your life. They have subscriptions and also single crates available.

The second activity was to make a nest and paint eggs. She's getting old enough that she's really into it - wanting to do it all with a little help from me. Definitely a fun project to do together. I like that it usually includes some education along with it (this one included a booklet about a few different kinds of birds and their eggs and nests).

She's totally a maker and a doer.

This was also happening in between wood stacking and crafting and hanging out.

Sunday morning play with Simon included listening to him tell me an Adventure Time story. He's super full of holiday spirit already.

Things I didn't capture on film: Aaron and the kids were here for dinner Saturday night. Anna attended a birthday party on Sunday. Simon and I stocking up on some things for Thanksgiving at Target while Anna was at the birthday party.

I also found myself on Pinterest more than once. Tis the season for inspiration for me on there - big time. House stuff, holiday stuff, memory keeping stuff, gifts, oh my.

Such a wonderfully simple, productive, cozy weekend.

And I have I said that I'm excited to have my family here this week for Thanksgiving? I am. Big time.